University of Colorado
Spacecraft Speed
Space shuttles traveled around Earth at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour, way faster than trains, planes, or automobiles travel! In the 13th installment of 22, groups graph different speeds to show how quickly spacecraft move through...
EngageNY
Existence and Uniqueness of Square Roots and Cube Roots
Teach cube roots by building on an understanding of square roots. The third installment of a 25-part series asks learners to solve simple quadratic and cubic equations using roots. Scholars compare square roots and cube roots throughout...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
The Pasture and the Fence
Beginning geometers use tiles and grid paper to draw and calculate perimeter and area. Rectangles of different sizes are created and then measured to build understanding. The one-inch grid sheet referenced is attached.
Science Matters
Earthquake Building/Shaking Contest
Japan is one of only a handful of countries that constructs buildings that are almost earthquake proof. The 13th lesson in the 20-part series challenges scholars to build structures to test against earthquakes. With limited materials and...
Curated OER
Estimate How Many Seeds Are In a Fruit or Vegetable
Help mathematicians estimate how many seeds are in a given vegetable or fruit. They are divided into pairs and estimate the amount of seeds in a whole fruit without seeing the inside. They then cut the fruit or vegetable in half and...
Achieve
BMI Calculations
Obesity is a worldwide concern. Using survey results, learners compare local BMI statistics to celebrity BMI statistics. Scholars create box plots of the data, make observations about the shape and spread of the data, and examine the...
Virginia Department of Education
Going the Distance
Estimate the value of one of the most famous irrational numbers. The hands-on instructional activity instructs classmates to measure the circumference and diameters of circles using yarn. The ratio of these quantities defines pi.
Teach Engineering
Build the Biggest Box
Boxing takes on a whole new meaning! The second installment of the three-part series has groups create lidless boxes from construction paper that can hold the most rice. After testing out their constructions, they build a new box....
Noyce Foundation
Boxes
Teach your class to think outside the box. Scholars use the concept of equality to solve a problem in the assessment task. They determine how to use a scale to identify the one box out of a set of nine boxes that is heavier than the others.
NET Foundation for Television
1850-1874 Homestead Act Signed: The Challenges of The Plains
Start a whole new life in a land known as the Wild Wild West! Learners analyze maps, personal accounts, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, songs, and video clips to uncover life under the Homestead Act. Using their new skills, class members role...
Inside Mathematics
Functions
A function is like a machine that has an input and an output. Challenge scholars to look at the eight given points and determine the two functions that would fit four of the points each — one is linear and the other non-linear. The...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Review and Assessment: Causes and Effects of Climate Changes
The last activity in the series of five is a short one where individuals show what they've learned about the causes and effects of climate change. Working independently, they fill in a graphic organizer, then compare their notes with a...
Concord Consortium
Acid Test
This isn't your typical basic lesson—it's more acidic! Learners use pH information to determine the hydroxide ion concentration of different substances and then use these values to analyze information. The calculations require...
American Chemical Society
The Energy Efficiency of Heating Water
Can a small change in laboratory procedures save energy? Scholars test three different methods for heating water in a science lab. Then, they calculate the energy efficiency for each and compare them to determine which uses the least...
Curated OER
Bar Graphs
Introduce scholars to bar graphs and data analysis through analyzing these visual examples. First, they look at a pictograph of fruit types and answer five observation questions. There is one done for them as an example. Learners do the...
Curated OER
"Music Be the Food of Love:" Found Poetry with Shakespeare and Hip-Hop
Lines from Shakespeare and from hip-hop artists provide learners with an opportunity to examine the literary devices these artists use to express their ideas about love. Groups use the provided lines to craft found poems, and then the...
Worksheet Web
Learning About Rate
After reading a one-page passage on how to understand and solve distance/rate problems, young mathematicians answer six word problems that have them correctly set up the formula in order to solve for the distnace, rate, or time in the...
Curated OER
Magic Number Squares: school items
Middle schoolers play magic number squares to review school related vocabulary words. The grid provided has 16 Spanish words, and the class needs to match the English translation to the correct Spanish vocabulary word. But how do they...
Illustrative Mathematics
The Escalator, Assessment Variation
A great way to practice with unit rates, the activity gives your mathematicians an opportunity to compare different statements and select which are true. They can practice with "choose all that apply" by setting each statement into its...
Curated OER
Comparative Embryology Using Japanese Medaka Fish
High schoolers conduct an experiment to control the breeding of Japanese Medaka fish. They collect the fertilized eggs and view and record the fish's embryological development daily to compare the stages to human development.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Alike and Different
Students compare and contrast objects and are introduced to a Venn Diagram. In this alike and different lesson plan, students make observations regarding properties of objects. Students classify object and build ideas about variables....
Curated OER
More, Less or Equal
In this math worksheet, students compare sets and determine how they compare. Students count the size of small sets using the numbers 0 to 20 and identify if the sets are equal in size, larger or smaller.
Curated OER
Too Many Tens
Students practice grouping in different ways by putting numbers up to 1,000 in the correct place value. In this place value lesson plan, students estimate items in a jar and then count them out by grouping them by 10s.
Curated OER
Place Value
First graders practice place value by completing problems that allow them to group 10 items together to create groups of 10 and see what is left over. In this place value lesson plan, 1st graders use cups to put 10 items in them, and...